A twice-weekly syndicated newspaper column on California public affairs.

Monday, October 8, 2018

NEWSOM: EXPECT SOME CHANGES, BUT NO CLEAN SLATE

CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2018, OR THEREAFTER

BY THOMAS D. ELIAS

“NEWSOM:
EXPECT SOME CHANGES, BUT NO CLEAN SLATE”

A few
feet behind Gavin Newsom as he sipped a drink in a coffee shop near Los Angeles
International Airport, a tall man with a wet paint roller wiped a menu
blackboard clear, giving the store a clean slate.

But
Newsom’s words and attitudes in an interview made it clear the symbolism was
only partially complete.

“I tend
to agree with (current Gov.) Jerry Brown on 95 percent of things,” said the
lieutenant governor and former San Francisco mayor. “I differ with him on some
of his bill signings and vetoes, on gun control for one example. When I was
mayor, (now Senator, then District Attorney) Kamala Harris and I tried to shut
down the Cow Palace gun shows. Jerry had the chance to do that last month, but
instead he vetoed the bill. I would have signed it.”

Democrat
Newsom – leading Republican John Cox by double figures in every poll this fall
in their run for governor – thinks that if elected, he would also be more
involved in women’s and children’s issues, ascribing his interest to his second
wife, actress Jennifer Siebel. “If you’ve met my wife,” he grinned, “you may
not be surprised at how the dynamics of women’s issues might change.”

But
Newsom says anyone who expects he might loosen the state’s purse strings when
the famously parsimonious Brown era ends may be mistaken. “I was anything but a
free spender when I was mayor,” he said. “Just look at my record.”

He also
says he won’t back California away from resisting many of President Trump’s
policies. “I admire (Atty. Gen.) Xavier Becerra’s 44 (and counting) lawsuits
against the Trump administration’s moves,” Newsom said. “He’s right on all of
them. These lawsuits are principled and go deep in pursuing California values.
I will defend California’s values on the environment and immigration and other
issues and I will not be timid.

“At the
same time, I will not go to bed every night thinking what I can do the next day
to resist Donald Trump. I’ll do what’s necessary and right.”

Newsom
also wants to re-instill civility in politics. He says he’s come to admire some
traits of opponent Cox, a businessman who moved to California from Illinois
about a decade ago.

“I like
his resiliency in the face of long odds,” Newsom said. “His whole history shows
that. I admire his putting himself forward the way he has.”

Does
this mean he might give Cox a job in a putative Newsom administration, as he
did with some onetime opponents in San Francisco? Say, make Cox a University of
California regent or a California State University trustee? “He approves of
(federal Education Secretary) Betsy DeVos and what she’s trying to do,” Newsom
said. “So that would be a no.” What about a spot on the state’s Athletic
Commission, which regulates boxing? Newsom just chuckled.

Newsom
said he’s also learned from other election rivals, like former state Schools
Supt. Delaine Eastin. “For authenticity, unbridled conviction, humor and
energy, there’s no one like Delaine. I may well recruit her for something. The
same for (former Los Angeles Mayor) Antonio Villaraigosa.

“There
are ways to let your opponents save face.”

Newsom
added that he’ll likely heed the problems of homelessness more than Brown. “We
took 10,000 people off the streets when I was mayor,” he said. “But when you
build affordable new housing for the homeless, for every 10 that you house, 10
more soon arrive. So we need to regionalize the problem and the solutions. We
also need to be careful about over-promising, not give people the idea we can
do more than we actually can accomplish.”

And
what about running for president? “Oh, God no. No. No. But I realize no one
cares what I say about that. I still get the question. Maybe that’s why I’m now
on Trump’s radar (the president has mocked him twice recently on Twitter). But
I mean what I say.”

But
what about a year from now, if Democrats don’t coalesce around a single
candidate? “I will say California gives the structural advantage of holding an
early primary in 2000. This state should play a central role in the future of
America and the Democratic Party.” Which may mean, stay tuned.

-30-

Email
Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough:
The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch
It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias
columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

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About Me

Thomas Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column, appearing twice weekly in 88 newspapers around California, with circulation over 2.2 million.
He has won numerous awards from organizations like the National Headliners Club, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club, and the California Taxpayers Association. He has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize in distinguished commentary.
Elias is the author of two books, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It" (now in its third edition; also published in Japanese and recently optioned for a television movie) and "The Simpson Trial in Black and White," co-authored with the late Dennis Schatzman.